Purses and Cottages
by salarta
Summary: On their journey to stop Zemus, the party decides to stop at a save point and build a Cottage... wait, BUILD a COTTAGE? What the heck! Rosa, Cecil, Kain, Rydia, Edge included. Spoilers.


**Author's Note**: This is a fun piece to follow on the heels of the previous one.

* * *

"Kain, do you have enough nails for that roof?"

"I think I need more. Rosa, could you send me a pack of them?"

"Of course!" At that, Rosa shuffled through her pink, gold-detail embroidered purse. "Let's see... two Potions... a Megalixir... why do we have six Headbands? Two Diamond Armors... oh wow! Cecil, did you know we have your Dark Sword? I remember the day you passed your Dark Knight trials."

"You can throw that out, I don't need it anymore."

"Nonsense! It's the only memento we have left from your Dark Knight days. We're keeping it."

After a glimmer of a moment staring at his beautiful wife, he went back to nailing the next plank of wood for the side of the Cottage.

"HOW DO WE CARRY ALL THESE THINGS?!" Edge couldn't help but yelp.

"Oh that's right! Edge wasn't around when I showed it off last time." Grinning from ear to ear, the noble white mage held her purse into the light for Edge to see. "It combines limitless storage using pocket dimensions with the latest fashion.

"Pocket dimensions?"

"Mmhmm, they only just discovered them in Mysidia this past Spring."

"You Baron nobles sure are on top of what's new in the world."

Rosa smiled warmly at the Eblanese ninja, only to perk up at her most recent discovery in the purse. "Kain, I found the nails! I'm sending them up to you right now." A soft, flowing chant later, the nails floated up to the roof, and Kain snatched them out of the air with a simple thanks for the help. Rosa, for her part, went back to exploring the party stash, ready to jump into action when they needed her help again.

"How's that bonfire coming along, Rydia?" Cecil asked, hammering in another nail.

"Uhh... heh heh... Ifrit kiiiiinda nuked the wood pile."

"Why did you let Ifrit do that? You can use Fire now."

"He was feeling down about how I never Call him for help anymore now that I have Bahamut, I thought it would cheer him up if he got a chance to use his power to help us out with something. I didn't expect him to launch a magma boulder at the fire pit."

"Don't worry, I have more firewood in my purse." Floating the firewood over to Rydia, Rosa's eyes caught notice of an odd piece of paper among their belongings. She immediately snatched it out and began to read it. "What's this? 'Member's Writ?' "

The reaction from Cecil was almost automatic, as he literally dropped everything he was doing to rush over to Rosa. "That's my club card. Here, I'll hold on to it so it doesn't take up any more space in your purse."

"Club card? What club?" Rosa would have reminded him how pocket dimensions work, but she found herself too intently focused on learning more about the Member's Writ and its uses. After scanning the front, she flipped it over and read the back. "For a good time, visit-"

"Ooooooooooh, not so holy now, are ya Cecil?"

Rydia smacked the ninja behind the head, crossed her arms and shirked her head away. "Idiot."

Rosa darted her gaze up to look at her love, filled with a peculiar wonder. "What kind of club is this?"

"I-It's a dancer troupe based in Troia. Some of their dances are simply enchanting."

"How much did you have to pay for this pass?"

His face paled. "100,000 Gil."

"That must mean they're really good." Like flicking on a light, Rosa gave Cecil one of her radiant smiles, cheeks aglow with a blush that showed her eagerness in full color. "We'll go to a show on our honeymoon!"

"Wh-what?!"

"If they're good enough to warrant buying a 100,000 Gil card, it'll be a perfect way to celebrate the first few weeks of our life together."

Edge's snickering cut short when Rydia elbowed him in the gut, leaving the ninja bent down on one knee for the second it took him to recover.

"I finished the Cottage," Kain announced.

"That's great!" Cecil answered. "Join us, we're going to sit down in front of the fire and talk for a while before we sleep."

"No thanks, I'll sit on the roof and watch for any signs of danger."

"But we built the Cottage on top of a save point..." Edge muttered, Rosa shushing him.

"You know what always bugs me?" Edge wouldn't relent. "Those Cottages. Why do we have to tear them down and put up a new one each time?"

"Magical beams," Cecil explained. "The planks start to disintegrate after one day-night cycle. It takes a full week for the process, but if we left it standing, the entire structure could collapse at any second."

"It's the latest in magic-item advancements!" Rosa beamed.

"I swear, you Baronians..."

The fire from Rydia's spell leapt up high in the cavern, the four settling in to relax for the first time on their path toward Zemus.


End file.
